RESUMEN
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the prevalence and possible factors influencing metabolic syndrome in people from Guizhou Province and to explore the predictive value of the fat-to-muscle ratio in diagnosing metabolic syndrome.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A multistage stratified sampling method was used in this cross-sectional study of 20-80 years old Han and Bouyei populations from Guizhou Province, southwestern China, from October-December 2012. The study included 4,553 cases of metabolic syndrome, that was defined according to 2005 International Diabetes Federation criteria. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used for determining the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive ability of the fat-to-muscle ratio for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The age-standardized prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 11.38% (men: 9.76%; women: 12.72%) for Han and 4.78% (men: 4.43%; women: 5.30%) for Bouyei populations. In Guizhou Province, the cut-off value for the men fat-to-muscle ratio was 0.34, the area under the curve was 0.95, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 and 0.85, respectively. The cut-off value for the women fat-to-muscle ratio was 0.55, the area under the curve was 0.91, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.93 and 0.79, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The fat-to-muscle ratio is highly predictive of metabolic syndrome in Guizhou Province, and a useful reference indicator.</p>